Bomber Bait Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 4, 1973

207 N.L.R.B. 710 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

710 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Bomber Bait Company, Inc. and Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner.
Case 16-RC-6327
December 4, 1973
DECISION ON REVIEW
BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, AND
PENELLO
On August 24, 1973, the Regional Director for
Region 16 issued a Decision and Direction of
Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which
he directed that the Employer 's homeworkers vote as
a separate voting group in a self-determination
election to determine whether they would be includ-
ed in a bargaining unit consisting of all production
and maintenance employees , including shipping and
receiving department employees , or whether they
would be unrepresented .1 Thereafter, in accordance
with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations , Series 8 , as amended,
the Employer filed a ' timely request for review of the
Regional Director 's Decision , together with a sup-
porting brief , asserting inter alia that in failing to
include the homeworkers in the plant production and
maintenance unit in accord with the positions of the
parties the Regional Director made erroneous fact
findings and departed from established Board
precedent and that there are compelling reasons for
reconsideration of an important Board rule or policy.
On September 17, 1973, the National Labor
Relations Board by telegraphic order granted the
request for review and stayed the election pending
decision on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three -member panel.
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this
case and makes the following findings:
The Employer is a Texas corporation engaged in
the manufacture of fish lures and accessories. At the
time of the hearing it employed approximately 63
plant production and maintenance employees and 14
homeworkers . Both the Employer and the Petitioner
agree that the homeworkers should be included in
the requested production and maintenance unit.
I The Petitioner did not seek to represent the homeworkers in a separate
unit.
2 The Tribune Company, 190 NLRB 398; Film & Dubbing Productions,
Inc., 181 NLRB 583; Joseph R. Osherenko, 73 NLRB 670.
3 In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their
addresses which may be used to communicate with them . Excelsior
Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236; N.L.R.B. v. Wyman-Gordon Co., 394 U.S.
The record establishes that the homeworkers, like
plant employees, assemble fish lures for the Employ-
er, although the finishing work is performed by plant
employees. The homeworkers and the plant employ-
ees are paid on the same day from a single payroll,
the homeworkers being required to come to the plant
to pick up their paychecks. Like the plant employees,
the homeworkers receive instructions and materials
at the plant and must satisfy plant production
standards. The homeworkers work between 20 and
40 hours a week and are paid on a piecework basis as
compared to plant employees who work 40-hour
week and receive hospitalization and vacation
benefits. However, both the homeworkers and the
plant employees receive a yearend bonus based on
hours worked during the year and seniority.
The Regional Director found that there was "a
substantial basis upon which to base a finding of an
appropriate unit in accord with the position of the
parties which would include the homeworkers in the
plant production and maintenance unit ." Neverthe-
less, he directed elections in two separate voting
groups of homeworkers and plant production and
maintenance employees. In view of the record
evidence which establishes that the homeworkers and
the plant employees share a community of interest,
and in view of the agreement of the parties to include
these employees in the same unit which is not
contrary to Board policy,2 there is no basis for failing
to include homeworkers in an overall production and
maintenance unit.
Accordingly, we conclude that the following unit is
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees,
including shipping and receiving department
employees and homeworkers employed at or
working out of the Employer's Gainesville, Texas,
plant, excluding all office clerical employees,
professional employees, technical employees,
guards, watchmen and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
Accordingly, we shall remand the case to the
Regional Director for the purpose of conducting an
election pursuant to his Decision and Direction of
Election, as modified herein, except that the payroll
period for determining eligibility shall be that
immediately preceding the date of issuance.3
759. Accordingly, it is hereby directed that a corrected election eligibility
list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be
filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 16 within 7
days of the date of this Decision on Review . The Regional Director shall
make the list available to all parties to the election . No extension of time to
file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in
extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply with this requirement shall
be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are
filed.
207 NLRB No. 120